The 2015 honorees are Jill DeTemple, Religious Studies, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences; Yildirim Hürmüzlü, Mechanical Engineering, Lyle School of Engineering; and Darius Miller, Finance, Cox School of Business.

The new members of SMU’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers will join returning members Jaime Clark-Soles, New Testament, Perkins School of Theology;Michael Lattman, Chemistry, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences; and Paige Ware, Teaching and Learning, Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development.

Each year since 2001, the Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor Awards, named for SMU Trustee Ruth Altshuler, recognize SMU faculty members for their commitment to and achievements in fostering student learning.

“These are faculty whose concerns for higher education go beyond classroom boundaries and often the boundaries of their own discipline,” according to the CTE. “They represent the highest achievement in reaching the goals of higher education.”

Each recipient receives a $10,000 award and membership in SMU’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers for the two years of their appointment as Altshuler Professors. Members participate actively with other members of the Academy to address issues in classroom teaching.

Do fewer regulations make markets such as New York City more competitive with other global financial centers such as London? New research by Caruth Chair in Finance Darius Miller of SMU’s Cox School of Business, Ugur Lel of the Federal Reserve Board and Nuno Fernandes of IMD International shows that relaxing rules for foreign firms listing in the United States actually has had the opposite effect.

In March 2007, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) passed Rule 12h-6, which loosened the regulations of the 1933/1934 Exchange and Securities Acts. The rule required foreign firms that list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to maintain registration with the SEC as long as there were 300 shareholders of record. Thus, foreign firms that wanted access to U.S. capital markets were held accountable to their investor protections, including reporting requirements, laws and enforcement.

Think tanks and industry experts lobbied the SEC to amend the 300-shareholder law. “[The SEC] relaxed the rule to allow easier deregistering,” Miller says. “The argument was that it was so hard to come to the U.S. and then leave, if needed.” Lobbyists maintained that foreign firms that might list in the United States would fear becoming trapped in a “roach motel” – where they could check in but not check out – and would prefer therefore to go to London.

The goal of the deregulation was to encourage more foreign firms to register in the United States. However, the number of deregistrations has increased dramatically. In fact, 80 firms have left since the rule was changed – the most in U.S. history.

“There was in fact a value to this type of regulation, which has been lost in the debate about regulation and U.S. financial market competitiveness,” Miller says. Though regulation is costly, there are benefits to investors, especially for certain types of firms. Now that the SEC has made it easy to leave, the type of firms that left early were those with previous run-ins with the law and those that were doing suspicious things, Miller noted in the study’s findings. “It doesn’t give one confidence that we’re doing the right thing by relaxing the rule,” he remarked.

The paper, “Escape from New York: The Market Impact of Loosening Disclosure Requirements,” will be published in Journal of Financial Economics.

SMU experts answered questions and gave their views on investing and saving for retirement during difficult times in “Market Volatility and Its Impact on You: Reassessing vs. Reacting in Response to Your Finances.” The Department of Human Resources presented the discussion Nov. 11, 2008 in the Collins Executive Education Center.

“Given the nature of market volatility, we thought it would be a marvelous idea to have this forum for our faculty, staff, retirees, and everyone else who has given their hearts, their souls, and their lives in dedication to this great university,” said moderator David Lei, associate professor of strategy and entrepreneurship in SMU’s Cox School of Business. “This is an opportunity to get to know the current market environment and to bounce around a few ideas.”

The panel stressed the importance of individuals knowing their own risk tolerance and managing their investments accordingly. Participants included Distinguished Professor of Finance Andrew Chen and Caruth Chair in Finance Darius Miller of the Cox School, as well as Director of Total Compensation Sheri Starkey of Human Resources.

Lei left attendees with 5 financial questions to consider:

If you hold stocks, what will you do if the market takes another 30 percent dive?

What will you do if your bank or credit card company declares your existing credit balance as your limit?

If you hold a large amount of cash, what will you do if inflation rapidly escalates?

In a depressed real estate market, what will you do in the wake of a home insurance disaster in which you can recoup only replacement costs, rather than what you paid?

In terms of your savings, are you looking to grow rich or to avoid being poor?